Doha Development Round

The Doha Development Round or Doha Development Agenda (DDA) is the latest trade-negotiation round of the World Trade Organization (WTO) which commenced in November 2001 under then director-general Mike Moore. Its objective was to lower trade barriers around the world, and thus facilitate increased global trade.

The Doha Round began with a ministerial-level meeting in Doha, Qatar in 2001. Subsequent ministerial meetings took place in Cancún, Mexico (2003), and Hong Kong (2005). Related negotiations took place in Paris, France (2005), Potsdam, Germany (2007), and Geneva, Switzerland (2004, 2006, 2008);

Progress in negotiations stalled after the breakdown of the July 2008 negotiations over disagreements concerning agriculture, industrial tariffs and non-tariff barriers, services, and trade remedies.[1][2] The most significant differences are between developed nations led by the European Union (EU), the United States (US), Canada, and Japan and the major developing countries led and represented mainly by India, Brazil, China, and South Africa. There is also considerable contention against and between the EU and the US over their maintenance of agricultural subsidies—seen to operate effectively as trade barriers.[3]

Since the breakdown of negotiations in 2008, there have been repeated attempts to revive the talks, so far without success. Intense negotiations, mostly between the US, China, and India, were held at the end of 2008 seeking agreement on negotiation modalities, an impasse which was not resolved; in April 2011, then director-general Pascal Lamy "asked members to think hard about 'the consequences of throwing away ten years of solid multilateral work'."[4] A report to the WTO General Council by Lamy in May 2012 advocated "small steps, gradually moving forward the parts of the Doha Round which were mature, and re-thinking those where greater differences remained."[5] Adoption of the Bali Ministerial Declaration on 7 December 2013[6] for the first time successfully addressed bureaucratic barriers to commerce—a small part of the Doha Round agenda.[7] However, as of January 2014[update], the future of the Doha Round remains uncertain.

Doha Round talks are overseen by the Trade Negotiations Committee (TNC), whose chair is the WTO’s director-general, currently Roberto Azevêdo, the negotiations are being held in five working groups and in other existing bodies of the WTO. Selected topics under negotiation are discussed below in five groups: market access, development issues, WTO rules, trade facilitation and other issues.[1]

Before the Doha ministerial, negotiations had already been under way on trade in agriculture and trade in services, these ongoing negotiations had been required under the last round of multilateral trade negotiations (the Uruguay Round, 1986–1994). However, some countries, including the United States, wanted to expand the agriculture and services talks to allow trade-offs and thus achieve greater trade liberalization.[1]

Just months before the Doha ministerial, the United States had been attacked by terrorists on September 11th, 2001, some government officials called for greater political cohesion and saw the trade negotiations as a means toward that end. Some officials thought that a new round of multilateral trade negotiations could help a world economy weakened by recession and terrorism-related uncertainty. According to the WTO, the year 2001 showed "...the lowest growth in output in more than two decades,"[10] and world trade contracted that year.[1]

The Doha round officially began in November 2001, committing all countries to negotiations opening agricultural and manufacturing markets, as well as trade-in-services (GATS) negotiations and expanded intellectual property regulation (TRIPS). The intent of the round, according to its proponents, was to make trade rules fairer for developing countries.[11] However, by 2008, critics were charging that the round would expand a system of trade rules that were bad for development and interfered excessively with countries' domestic "policy space".[12]

The 2001 ministerial declaration established an official deadline for concluding negotiations for the Doha round at January 1, 2005.[13]

The 2003 Cancún talks—intended to forge concrete agreement on the Doha round objectives—collapsed after four days during which the members could not agree on a framework to continue negotiations. Low key talks continued since the ministerial meeting in Doha but progress was almost non-existent,[14] this meeting was intended to create a framework for further negotiations.

The Cancún ministerial collapsed for several reasons. First, differences over the Singapore issues seemed incapable of resolution, the EU had retreated on few of its demands, but several developing countries refused any consideration of these issues at all. Second, it was questioned whether some countries had come to Cancún with a serious intention to negotiate; in the view of some observers, a few countries showed no flexibility in their positions and only repeated their demands rather than talk about trade-offs. Third, the wide difference between developing and developed countries across virtually all topics was a major obstacle, the US–EU agricultural proposal and that of the G20 developing nations, for example, show strikingly different approaches to special and differential treatment. Fourth, there was some criticism of procedure, some claimed the agenda was too complicated. Also, Cancún ministerial chairman, Mexico’s Foreign Minister Luis Ernesto Derbez, was faulted for ending the meeting when he did, instead of trying to move the talks into areas where some progress could have been made.[1]

The collapse seemed like a victory for the developing countries,[15] the failure to advance the round resulted in a serious loss of momentum and brought into question whether the 1 January 2005 deadline would be met.[1] The North-South divide was most prominent on issues of agriculture. Developed countries’ farm subsidies (both the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy and the US government agro-subsidies) became a major sticking point, the developing countries were seen as finally having the confidence to reject a deal that they viewed as unfavorable. This is reflected by the new trade bloc of developing and industrialized nations: the G20, since its creation, the G20 has had fluctuating membership, but is spearheaded by the G4 (the People's Republic of China, India, Brazil, and South Africa). While the G20 presumes to negotiate on behalf of all of the developing world, many of the poorest nations continue to have little influence over the emerging WTO proposals.

The aftermath of Cancún was one of standstill and stocktaking. Negotiations were suspended for the remainder of 2003. Starting in early 2004, US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick pushed for the resumption of negotiations by offering a proposal that would focus on market access, including an elimination of agricultural export subsidies,[1] he also said that the Singapore issues could progress by negotiating on trade facilitation, considering further action on government procurement, and possibly dropping investment and competition.[16] This intervention was credited at the time with reviving interest in the negotiations, and negotiations resumed in March 2004.[1]

In the months leading up to the talks in Geneva, the EU accepted the elimination of agricultural export subsidies “by date certain.” The Singapore issues were moved off the Doha agenda. Compromise was also achieved over the negotiation of the Singapore issues as the EU and others decided. Developing countries too played an active part in negotiations this year, first by India and Brazil negotiating directly with the developed countries (as the so-called “non-party of five”) on agriculture, and second by working toward acceptance of trade facilitation as a subject for negotiation.[17]

With these issues pushed aside, the negotiators in Geneva were able to concentrate on moving forward with the Doha Round, after intense negotiations in late July 2004, WTO members reached what has become known as the Framework Agreement(sometimes called the July Package), which provides broad guidelines for completing the Doha round negotiations. The agreement contains a 4-page declaration, with four annexes (A–D) covering agriculture, non-agricultural market access, services, and trade facilitation, respectively; in addition, the agreement acknowledges the activities of other negotiating groups (such as those on rules, dispute settlement, and intellectual property) and exhorts them to fulfill their Doha round negotiating objectives. The agreement also abandoned the 1 January 2005 deadline for the negotiations and set December 2005 as the date for the 6th ministerial to be held in Hong Kong.[17]

Trade negotiators wanted to make tangible progress before the December 2005 WTO meeting in Hong Kong, and held a session of negotiations in Paris in May 2005.[18]

Paris talks were hanging over a few issues: France protested moves to cut subsidies to farmers, while the US, Australia, the EU, Brazil and India failed to agree on issues relating to chicken, beef and rice.[18] Most of the sticking points were small technical issues, making trade negotiators fear that agreement on large politically risky issues will be substantially harder.[18]

The Sixth WTO Ministerial Conference took place in Hong Kong, 13 to 18 December 2005. Although a flurry of negotiations took place in the fall of 2005, WTO director-general Pascal Lamy announced in November 2005 that a comprehensive agreement on modalities would not be forthcoming in Hong Kong, and that the talks would “take stock” of the negotiations and would try to reach agreements in negotiating sectors where convergence was reported.[1]

Trade ministers representing most of the world's governments reached a deal that sets a deadline for eliminating subsidies of agricultural exports by 2013, the final declaration from the talks, which resolved several issues that have stood in the way of a global trade agreement, also requires industrialized countries to open their markets to goods from the world's poorest nations, a goal of the United Nations for many years. The declaration gave fresh impetus for negotiators to try to finish a comprehensive set of global free trade rules by the end of 2006. Director-general Pascal Lamy said, "I now believe it is possible, which I did not a month ago."[19]

The conference pushed back the expected completion of the round until the end of 2006.[1]

The round had been planned for conclusion in December 2005—after two more ministerial conferences had produced a final draft declaration, the WTO pushed back its self-imposed deadline to slightly precede the expiration of the US President's Congressional Fast Track Trade Promotion Authority. Any declaration of the WTO must be ratified by the Congress to take effect in the United States. Trade Promotion Authority prevents Congress from amending the draft, it expired on 30 June 2007,[20] and congressional leaders decided not to renew this authority for President George W Bush.[21]

The July 2006 talks in Geneva failed to reach an agreement about reducing farming subsidies and lowering import taxes, and negotiations took months to resume. A successful outcome of the Doha round became increasingly unlikely, because the broad trade authority granted under the Trade Act of 2002 to President George W. Bush was due to expire in 2007. Any trade pact would then have to be approved by the Congress with the possibility of amendments, which would hinder the US negotiators and decrease the willingness of other countries to participate.[3] Hong Kong offered to mediate the collapsed trade liberalisation talks. Director-general of Trade and Industry, Raymond Young, says the territory, which hosted the last round of Doha negotiations, has a "moral high-ground" on free trade that allows it to play the role of "honest broker".[citation needed]

In June 2007, negotiations within the Doha round broke down at a conference in Potsdam, as a major impasse occurred between the US, the EU, India and Brazil, the main disagreement was over opening up agricultural and industrial markets in various countries and how to cut rich nation farm subsidies.[22]

On 21 July 2008, negotiations started again at the WTO's HQ in Geneva on the Doha round but stalled after nine days of negotiations over the refusal to compromise over the special safeguard mechanism. "Developing country members receive special and differential treatment with respect to other members' safeguard measures, in the form of a de minimis import volume exemption. As users of safeguards, developing country members receive special and differential treatment with respect to applying their own such measures, with regard to permitted duration of extensions, and with respect to re-application of measures.[23]

Negotiations had continued since the last conference in June 2007.[24] Director-general Pascal Lamy said before the start of the conference that the odds of success were over 50%,[25] around 40 ministers attended the negotiations, which were only expected to last five days but instead lasted nine days. Kamal Nath, India's Commerce Minister, was absent from the first few days of the conference due to a vote of confidence being conducted in India's Parliament.[26] On the second day of the conference, U.S. Trade RepresentativeSusan Schwab announced that the US would cap its farm subsidies at $15 billion a year,[27] from $18.2 billion in 2006.[28] The proposal was on the condition that countries such as Brazil and India drop their objections to various aspects of the round,[27] the US and the EU also offered an increase in the number of temporary work visas for professional workers.[29] After one week of negotiations, many considered agreement to be 'within reach'. However, there were disagreements on issues including special protection for Chinese and Indian farmers and African and Caribbean banana imports to the EU.[30] India and China's hard stance regarding tariffs and subsidies was severely criticized by the United States;[31] in response, India's Commerce Minister said "I'm not risking the livelihood of millions of farmers."[32]

The negotiations collapsed on 29 July over issues of agricultural trade between the United States, India, and China;[33] in particular, there was insoluble disagreement between India and the United States over the special safeguard mechanism (SSM), a measure designed to protect poor farmers by allowing countries to impose a special tariff on certain agricultural goods in the event of an import surge or price fall.[34]

Pascal Lamy said, "Members have simply not been able to bridge their differences."[2] He also said that out of a to-do list of 20 topics, 18 had seen positions converge but the gaps could not narrow on the 19th—the special safeguard mechanism for developing countries. However, the United States, China and India could not agree on the threshold that would allow the mechanism to be used, with the United States arguing that the threshold had been set too low, the European Union Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson characterized the collapse as a "collective failure".[35] On a more optimistic note, India's Commerce Minister, Kamal Nath, said "I would only urge the director-general to treat this [failure of talks] as a pause, not a breakdown, to keep on the table what is there."[34]

Several countries blamed each other for the breakdown of the negotiations,[36] the United States and some European Union members blamed India for the failure of the talks.[37] India claimed that its position (i.e. that the US was sacrificing the world's poor for US/European commercial interests) was supported by over 100 countries.[38] Brazil, one of the founding members of the G-20, broke away from the position held by India.[39] Then-European Commissioner for TradePeter Mandelson said that India and China should not be blamed for the failure of the Doha round.[40] In his view, the agriculture talks had been harmed by the five-year program of agricultural subsidies recently passed by the U.S. Congress, which he said was "one of the most reactionary farm bills in the history of the U.S.".[33]

In 2008, several countries called for negotiations to start again. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, former president of Brazil, called several countries leaders to urge them to renew negotiations.[43] The director-general and chair of the Trade Negotiations Committee Pascal Lamy visited India to discuss possible solutions to the impasse.[44] A mini-ministerial meeting held in India on 3 and 4 September 2008 pledged to complete the round by the end of 2010,[45] the declaration at the end of the G20 summit of world leaders in London in 2009 included a pledge to complete the Doha round. Although a WTO ministerial conference scheduled in November 2009 would not be a negotiating session,[46] there would be several opportunities in 2009 to discuss the progress,[47] the WTO is involved in several events every year that provide opportunities to discuss and advance trade negotiations at a conceptual level.

In early 2010, Brazil and Lamy focused on the role of the United States in overcoming the deadlock. President Lula urged Barack Obama to end a trade dispute between Brazil and the US over cotton subsidies after the WTO gave Brazil the formal go-ahead in 2009 to impose sanctions on imports of over 100 US goods.[48] Lamy highlighted the difficulty of obtaining agreement from the US without the presidential fast-track authority and biennial elections.[49] One of the consequences of the economic crisis of 2008–2009 is the desire of political leaders to shelter their constituents from the increasingly competitive market experienced during market contractions. Lamy hoped that the drop in trade of 12% in 2009, quoted as the largest annual drop since the Second World War, could be countered by successful conclusion of the Doha round.[50]

At the 2011 annual conference of the World Economic Forum in Davos, British prime minister David Cameron called for the Doha talks to conclude by the end of the year, saying that "We've been at this Doha round for far too long. It's frankly ridiculous that it has taken 10 years to do this deal." Peter Sutherland, a former WTO director-general, called for the talks to be concluded in December that year.[51] That hope having failed to eventuate, Pascal Lamy "reported to the General Council on 1 May 2012 that on the Doha Round, 'my conversations over the past few weeks with ministers and delegations have provided me with a sense that members wish to continue to explore any opportunities to gain the necessary traction and make tangible progress soon'."[52]

In December 2013, under new director-general Roberto Azevêdo, negotiations of the Ninth Ministerial Conference held in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia produced agreement on a "Bali Package", addressing a small portion of the Doha programme,[6] principally bureaucratic "red tape".[53] Because of the controversial nature of reforming laws on intellectual property, trade in services and subsidising crops for Food Security, the talks focused on trade facilitation, which means lowering cross-border tariffs and other regulations which impede international trade. However, there was still some controversy over this, with Cuba threatening to oppose any deal which did not affect the US embargo on Cuba, the trade facilitation measures agreed in Bali could cut the cost of shipping goods around the world by more than 10%, by one estimate, raising global output by over $400 billion a year, with benefits flowing disproportionately to poorer countries.[54] It was claimed that the Bali Package, if implemented in full, could boost the global economy by US$1 trillion and create 21 million new jobs,[7] the Bali agreement included a 12-month deadline for the development of “a clearly defined work programme” on the remaining issues. The alternative to the WTO was seen as a proliferation of bilateral and regional agreements and, in the case of agriculture, the increased use of private standards.[55]

Agriculture has become the lynchpin of the agenda for both developing and developed countries. Three other issues have been important, the first, now resolved, pertained to compulsory licensing of medicines and patent protection. A second deals with a review of provisions giving special and differential treatment to developing countries; a third addresses problems that developing countries are having in implementing current trade obligations.[1]

Agriculture has become the most important and controversial issue. Agriculture is particularly important for developing countries, because around 75% of the population in developing countries live in rural areas, and the vast majority are dependent on agriculture for their livelihoods,[56] the first proposal in Qatar, in 2001, called for the end agreement to commit to "substantial improvements in market access; reductions of, with a view to phasing out, all forms of export subsidies; and substantial reductions in trade-distorting domestic support."[57]

The United States is being asked by the European Union (EU) and the developing countries, led by Brazil and India, to make a more generous offer for reducing trade-distorting domestic support for agriculture, the United States is insisting that the EU and the developing countries agree to make more substantial reductions in tariffs and to limit the number of import-sensitive and special products that would be exempt from cuts. Import-sensitive products are of most concern to developed countries like the European Union, while developing countries are concerned with special products – those exempt from both tariff cuts and subsidy reductions because of development, food security, or livelihood considerations.[58] Brazil has emphasized reductions in trade-distorting domestic subsidies, especially by the United States (some of which it successfully challenged in the WTO U.S.-Brazil cotton dispute), while India has insisted on a large number of special products that would not be exposed to wider market opening.[3]

A major topic at the Doha ministerial regarded the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). The issue involves the balance of interests between the pharmaceutical companies in developed countries that held patents on medicines and the public health needs in developing countries. Another issue concerns the protection of traditional medicinal knowledge and practices, before the Doha meeting, the United States claimed that the current language in TRIPS was flexible enough to address public health emergencies, but other countries insisted on new language.[1]

On 30 August 2003, WTO members reached agreement on the TRIPS and medicines issue. Voting in the General Council, member governments approved a decision that offered an interim waiver under the TRIPS Agreement allowing a member country to export pharmaceutical products made under compulsory licenses to least-developed and certain other members.[1]

In the Doha Ministerial Declaration, the trade ministers reaffirmed special and differential (S&D) treatment for developing countries and agreed that all S&D treatment provisions “...be reviewed with a view to strengthening them and making them more precise, effective and operational.”[1][57]

The negotiations have been split along a developing-country/developed-country divide. Developing countries wanted to negotiate on changes to S&D provisions, keep proposals together in the Committee on Trade and Development, and set shorter deadlines. Developed countries wanted to study S&D provisions, send some proposals to negotiating groups, and leave deadlines open. Developing countries claimed that the developed countries were not negotiating in good faith, while developed countries argued that the developing countries were unreasonable in their proposals, at the December 2005 Hong Kong ministerial, members agreed to five S&D provisions for least developed countries (LDCs), including the duty-free and quota-free access.[1]

Research by the ODI sheds light on the priorities of the LDCs during the Doha round, it is argued that subsidies to agriculture, especially to cotton, unite developing countries in opposition more than SDT provisions and therefore have a greater consensus.[59]

Duty-free and quota-free access (DFQFA) currently discussed covers 97% of tariff lines and if the US alone were to implement the initiative, it would potentially increase Least Developed Countries’ (LDCs) exports by 10% (or $1bn).[60] Many major trading powers already provide preferential access to LDCs through initiatives such as the Everything but Arms (EBA) initiative and the African Growth and Opportunity Act.

Developing countries claim that they have had problems with the implementation of the agreements reached in the earlier Uruguay Round because of limited capacity or lack of technical assistance, they also claim that they have not realized certain benefits that they expected from the Round, such as increased access for their textiles and apparel in developed-country markets. They seek a clarification of language relating to their interests in existing agreements.[1]

Before the Doha ministerial, WTO members resolved a small number of these implementation issues, at the Doha meeting, the Ministerial Declaration directed a two-path approach for the large number of remaining issues: (a) where a specific negotiating mandate is provided, the relevant implementation issues will be addressed under that mandate; and (b) the other outstanding implementation issues will be addressed as a matter of priority by the relevant WTO bodies. Outstanding implementation issues are found in the area of market access, investment measures, safeguards, rules of origin, and subsidies and countervailing measures, among others.[1]

Most countries participating in the negotiations believe that there is some economic benefit in adopting the agreement; however, there is considerable disagreement of how much benefit the agreement would actually produce. A study by the University of Michigan found that if all trade barriers in agriculture, services, and manufactures were reduced by 33% as a result of the Doha Development Agenda, there would be an increase in global welfare of $574.0 billion.[61] A 2008 study by World Bank Lead Economist Kym Anderson[62] found that global income could increase by more than $3000 billion per year, $2500 billion of which would go to the developing world.[63] Others had been predicting more modest outcomes, e.g. world net welfare gains ranging from $84 billion to $287 billion by the year 2015.[1][64] Pascal Lamy has conservatively estimated that the deal will bring an increase of $130 billion.[65]

Several think tanks and public organizations assess that the conclusion of the trade round will result in a net gain. However, the restructuring and adjustment costs required to prevent the collapse of local industries, particularly in developing countries, is a global concern, for example, a late 2009 study by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), the United Nations Development Programme and the Kenyan Institute for Research and Policy Analysis found that Kenya would see gains in its exports of flowers, tea, coffee and oil seeds. It would concurrently lose in the tobacco and grains markets, as well as manufacturing of textiles and footwear, machinery and equipment.[66]

The Copenhagen Consensus, which evaluates solutions for global problems regarding the cost-benefit ratio, in 2008 ranked the DDA as the second-best investment for global welfare, after the provision of vitamin supplements to the world's 140 million malnourished children.[67][68]

Ideas for Development- blog of heads of international development agencies including Pascal Lamy, director-general of the WTO, and Supachaï Panitchpakdi, former director-general, now secretary-general of UNCTAD.

1.
World Trade Organization
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The World Trade Organization is an intergovernmental organization which regulates international trade. The WTO officially commenced on 1 January 1995 under the Marrakesh Agreement, signed by 123 nations on 15 April 1994, replacing the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, most of the issues that the WTO focuses on derive from previous trade negotiations, especially from the Uruguay Round. The WTO is attempting to complete negotiations on the Doha Development Round, as of June 2012, the future of the Doha Round remained uncertain, the work programme lists 21 subjects in which the original deadline of 1 January 2005 was missed, and the round is still incomplete. This impasse has made it impossible to launch new WTO negotiations beyond the Doha Development Round, as a result, there have been an increasing number of bilateral free trade agreements between governments. As of July 2012, there were various groups in the WTO system for the current agricultural trade negotiation which is in the condition of stalemate. The WTOs current Director-General is Roberto Azevêdo, who leads a staff of over 600 people in Geneva, a trade facilitation agreement, part of the Bali Package of decisions, was agreed by all members on 7 December 2013, the first comprehensive agreement in the organizations history. Seven rounds of negotiations occurred under GATT, the first real GATT trade rounds concentrated on further reducing tariffs. Then, the Kennedy Round in the mid-sixties brought about a GATT anti-dumping Agreement, because these plurilateral agreements were not accepted by the full GATT membership, they were often informally called codes. Several of these codes were amended in the Uruguay Round, only four remained plurilateral, but in 1997 WTO members agreed to terminate the bovine meat and dairy agreements, leaving only two. Well before GATTs 40th anniversary, its members concluded that the GATT system was straining to adapt to a new globalizing world economy. In response to the problems identified in the 1982 Ministerial Declaration, the GATT still exists as the WTOs umbrella treaty for trade in goods, updated as a result of the Uruguay Round negotiations. GATT1994 is not however the only legally binding agreement included via the Final Act at Marrakesh, the highest decision-making body of the WTO is the Ministerial Conference, which usually meets every two years. It brings together all members of the WTO, all of which are countries or customs unions, the Ministerial Conference can take decisions on all matters under any of the multilateral trade agreements. When agricultural export subsidies were agreed to be phased out and adoption of the European Unions Everything, the WTO launched the current round of negotiations, the Doha Development Round, at the fourth ministerial conference in Doha, Qatar in November 2001. This was to be an effort to make globalization more inclusive and help the worlds poor, particularly by slashing barriers. The initial agenda comprised both further trade liberalization and new rule-making, underpinned by commitments to strengthen substantial assistance to developing countries. Among the various functions of the WTO, these are regarded by analysts as the most important and it provides a forum for negotiations and for settling disputes. Another priority of the WTO is the assistance of developing, least-developed and low-income countries in transition to adjust to WTO rules and disciplines through technical cooperation and training

2.
Mike Moore (New Zealand politician)
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Michael Kenneth Moore ONZ AO, known as Mike Moore, is a politician from New Zealand who has served both as Prime Minister of New Zealand and Director-General of the World Trade Organization. He has also held the post of New Zealand Ambassador to the United States, Moore was born in Whakatāne, Bay of Plenty, New Zealand in 1949. He was raised in Moerewa and educated at the Bay of Islands College, after leaving school he first worked as a labourer and then a printer. He became a trade unionist and at the age of 17 was elected to the Auckland Trades Council. He became the first youth representative on the Labour Party executive and was Vice-president of the International Union of Socialist Youth for two consecutive terms, Moore began his parliamentary career when elected as the MP for Eden in 1972, but was defeated for Eden in the 1975 election. After the election, the Moores visited Warren Freer, and were insistent that he resign from Mt Albert so that Moore could take his place, Freer said he had no intention of resigning, and anyway there was no guarantee that he would be selected to replace Freer. In 1978 Moore moved to Christchurch and was elected MP for the north Christchurch electorate and he held the electorate until 1999, as Papanui until 1984, as Christchurch North until 1996, and as Waimakariri thereafter. As a government minister he has held numerous portfolios, becoming best known in his role as Overseas Trade Minister with involvement in the GATT negotiations, in 1987 he also became Minister of External Relations and in 1988 Deputy Minister of Finance. The Labour government was not returned to power in the general election. The circumstances of Moores installment as Prime Minister would later be compared to the return of Kevin Rudd as Prime Minister of Australia and he led the Official Opposition until 1993 and was spokesman on Foreign Affairs and Trade until 1999. He was dumped as Labour leader after the 1993 election despite leading the party to victory at that election after only one term in opposition. As a result of his dumping as Labour leader, he strongly considered forming a break-away party and he won his seat in the 1996 election, obtaining more than twice as many votes as the next-highest candidate, Nationals Jim Gerard. In 1998, he ran for the post of Director-General of the World Trade Organisation and was elected to position on 22 July 1999. He took up the post on 1 September 1999, close enough to the 1999 election to not trigger a by-election, the deal with his rival and successor Supachai Panitchpakdi meant that he served only half of the usual six-year term in the post. Mike Moore was the director-general of the World Trade Organisation from 1999 to 2002 and his term coincided with momentous changes in the global economy and multilateral trading system. He attempted to restore confidence in the following the setback of the 1999 WTO ministerial conference held in Seattle. He gave particular attention to helping poor countries participate effectively in the trading system. Moore became New Zealand Ambassador to the United States in 2010 and he had a heart valve operation in 2014 and was admitted to hospital in Washington DC in April 2015 after a mild stroke

3.
Trade barrier
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Trade barriers are government-induced restrictions on international trade. If two or more nations repeatedly use trade barriers against each other, then a trade war results, economists generally agree that trade barriers are detrimental and decrease overall economic efficiency, this can be explained by the theory of comparative advantage. In theory, free trade involves the removal of all such barriers, in practice, however, even those countries promoting free trade heavily subsidize certain industries, such as agriculture and steel. High income countries tend to have less trade barriers than middle income countries which, in turn, small states tend to have lower trade barriers than large states. The most common trade barriers are on agricultural goods, textiles, apparel and footwear are the manufactured goods which are most commonly protected by trade barriers. Tariffs have been declining in the last twenty years but states have increased their non-tariff barriers, according to Chad Bown and Meredith Crowley, world trade is probably vastly more liberal in current times than was the case historically. According to Ronald Findlay and Kevin H. O’Rourke, for the nineteenth and twentieth centuries trade barriers and transport costs were the most important barriers to trade. They also write, during the mercantilist era price gaps were as likely to be due to trade monopolies, pirates, and wars as to costs and tariffs. Due to steadily decreasing tariff barriers since WWII, countries have become increasingly likely to trade barriers in the form of non-tariff barriers. National firms often lobby their own governments to enact regulations that are designed to keep out foreign firms, trade barriers are often criticized for the effect they have on the developing world. Because rich-country players call most of the shots and set trade policies, tariffs also tend to be anti-poor, with low rates for raw commodities and high rates for labor-intensive processed goods. The Commitment to Development Index measures the effect that rich country trade policies actually have on the developing world, trade barriers are mostly a combination of conformity and per-shipment requirements requested abroad, and weak inspection or certification procedures at home. The impact of trade barriers on companies and countries is highly uneven, one particular study showed that small firms are most affected. Another negative aspect of trade barriers is that they result in a choice of products and would therefore force customers to pay higher prices. Before exporting or importing to other countries, firstly, they must be aware of restrictions that the government imposes on the trade, sometimes the situation becomes even more complicated with the changing of policy and restrictions of a country

4.
Doha
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Doha is the capital city and most populous city of the State of Qatar. Doha has a population of 1,351,000 in a city proper with the close to 1.5 million. The city is located on the coast of the Persian Gulf in the east of the country and it is Qatars fastest growing city, with over 50% of the nations population living in Doha or its surrounding suburbs, and it is also the economic center of the country. Doha was founded in the 1820s as an offshoot of Al Bidda and it was officially declared as the countrys capital in 1971, when Qatar gained independence. As the commercial capital of Qatar and one of the emergent financial centers in the Middle East, Doha is considered a city by the Globalization. Doha accommodates Education City, a devoted to research and education. The city was host to the first ministerial-level meeting of the Doha Development Round of World Trade Organization negotiations. It was also selected as host city of a number of sporting events, including the 2006 Asian Games, in December 2011, the World Petroleum Council held the 20th World Petroleum Conference in Doha. Additionally, the city hosted the 2012 UNFCCC Climate Negotiations and is set to host a number of the venues for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. In May 2015, Doha was officially recognized as one of the New7Wonders Cities together with Vigan, La Paz, Durban, Havana, Beirut, the name Doha may have originated from the Arabic Ad-Dawḥa, the big tree. The reference might be to a prominent tree that stood at the site where the fishing village arose. Alternatively, it may have derived from dohat — Arabic for bay or gulf — referring to the Doha Bay area surrounding the Corniche. The city of Doha was formed after seceding from another local settlement known as Al Bidda, the earliest documented mention of Al Bidda was made in 1681, by the Carmelite Convent, in an account which chronicles several settlements in Qatar. In the record, the ruler and a fort in the confines of Al Bidda are alluded to, carsten Niebuhr, a European explorer who visited the Arabian Peninsula, created one of the first maps to depict the settlement in 1765 in which he labelled it as Guttur. David Seaton, a British political resident in Muscat, wrote the first English record of Al Bidda in 1801 and he refers to the town as Bedih and describes the geography and defensive structures in the area. He stated that the town had recently settled by the Sudan tribe. Seaton attempted to bombard the town with his warship, but returned to Muscat upon finding that the waters were too shallow to position his warship within striking distance. In 1820, British surveyor R. H. Colebrook, who visited Al Bidda and he wrote, The same year, an agreement known as the General Maritime Treaty was signed between the East India Company and the sheikhs of several Persian Gulf settlements

5.
Paris
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Paris is the capital and most populous city of France. It has an area of 105 square kilometres and a population of 2,229,621 in 2013 within its administrative limits, the agglomeration has grown well beyond the citys administrative limits. By the 17th century, Paris was one of Europes major centres of finance, commerce, fashion, science, and the arts, and it retains that position still today. The aire urbaine de Paris, a measure of area, spans most of the Île-de-France region and has a population of 12,405,426. It is therefore the second largest metropolitan area in the European Union after London, the Metropole of Grand Paris was created in 2016, combining the commune and its nearest suburbs into a single area for economic and environmental co-operation. Grand Paris covers 814 square kilometres and has a population of 7 million persons, the Paris Region had a GDP of €624 billion in 2012, accounting for 30.0 percent of the GDP of France and ranking it as one of the wealthiest regions in Europe. The city is also a rail, highway, and air-transport hub served by two international airports, Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Paris-Orly. Opened in 1900, the subway system, the Paris Métro. It is the second busiest metro system in Europe after Moscow Metro, notably, Paris Gare du Nord is the busiest railway station in the world outside of Japan, with 262 millions passengers in 2015. In 2015, Paris received 22.2 million visitors, making it one of the top tourist destinations. The association football club Paris Saint-Germain and the rugby union club Stade Français are based in Paris, the 80, 000-seat Stade de France, built for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, is located just north of Paris in the neighbouring commune of Saint-Denis. Paris hosts the annual French Open Grand Slam tennis tournament on the red clay of Roland Garros, Paris hosted the 1900 and 1924 Summer Olympics and is bidding to host the 2024 Summer Olympics. The name Paris is derived from its inhabitants, the Celtic Parisii tribe. Thus, though written the same, the name is not related to the Paris of Greek mythology. In the 1860s, the boulevards and streets of Paris were illuminated by 56,000 gas lamps, since the late 19th century, Paris has also been known as Panam in French slang. Inhabitants are known in English as Parisians and in French as Parisiens and they are also pejoratively called Parigots. The Parisii, a sub-tribe of the Celtic Senones, inhabited the Paris area from around the middle of the 3rd century BC. One of the areas major north-south trade routes crossed the Seine on the île de la Cité, this place of land and water trade routes gradually became a town

6.
Potsdam
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Potsdam is the capital and largest city of the German federal state of Brandenburg. It directly borders the German capital Berlin and is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region and it is situated on the River Havel,24 kilometres southwest of Berlins city centre. Potsdam was a residence of the Prussian kings and the German Kaiser, around the city there are a series of interconnected lakes and cultural landmarks, in particular the parks and palaces of Sanssouci, the largest World Heritage Site in Germany. The Potsdam Conference in 1945 was held at the palace Cecilienhof, the Filmstudio Babelsberg is the oldest large-scale film studio in the world. Potsdam developed into a centre of science in Germany in the 19th century, today, there are three public colleges, the University of Potsdam, and more than 30 research institutes in the city. The area was formed from a series of large moraines left after the last glacial period, today, the city is three-quarters green space, with just a quarter as urban area. There are about 20 lakes and rivers in and around Potsdam, such as the Havel, the Griebnitzsee, Templiner See, Tiefer See, Jungfernsee, Teltowkanal, Heiliger See, the highest point is the 114-metre high Kleiner Ravensberg. Potsdam is divided into seven city districts and nine new Ortsteile. The appearances of the city districts are quite different, the districts in the north and in the centre consist mainly of historical buildings, the south of the city is dominated by larger areas of newer buildings. Potsdam has an Oceanic climate, with cool, snowy winters, the average winter high temperature is 3.5 °C, with a low of −1.7 °C. Snow is common in the winter, summers are mild, with a high of 23.6 °C and a low of 12.7 °C. The name Potsdam originally seems to have been Poztupimi, a common theory is that it derives from an old West Slavonic term meaning beneath the oaks, i. e. the corrupted pod dubmi/dubimi. The area around Potsdam shows occupancy since the Bronze Age and was part of Magna Germania as described by Tacitus. After the great migrations of the Germanic peoples, Slavs moved in and it was first mentioned in a document in 993 AD as Poztupimi, when Emperor Otto III gifted the territory to the Quedlinburg Abbey, then led by his aunt Matilda. By 1317, it was mentioned as a small town and it gained its town charter in 1345. In 1573, it was still a market town of 2,000 inhabitants. Potsdam lost nearly half of its due to the Thirty Years War. After the Edict of Potsdam in 1685, Potsdam became a centre of European immigration and its religious freedom attracted people from France, Russia, the Netherlands and Bohemia

7.
Geneva
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Geneva is the second most populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Situated where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the capital of the Republic, the municipality has a population of 198,072, and the canton has 484,736 residents. In 2014, the compact agglomération du Grand Genève had 946,000 inhabitants in 212 communities in both Switzerland and France, within Swiss territory, the commuter area named Métropole lémanique contains a population of 1.25 million. This area is essentially spread east from Geneva towards the Riviera area and north-east towards Yverdon-les-Bains, Geneva is the city that hosts the highest number of international organizations in the world. It is also the place where the Geneva Conventions were signed, Geneva was ranked as the worlds ninth most important financial centre for competitiveness by the Global Financial Centres Index, ahead of Frankfurt, and third in Europe behind London and Zürich. A2009 survey by Mercer found that Geneva has the third-highest quality of life of any city in the world, the city has been referred to as the worlds most compact metropolis and the Peace Capital. In 2009 and 2011, Geneva was ranked as, respectively, the city was mentioned in Latin texts, by Caesar, with the spelling Genava, probably from a Celtic toponym *genawa- from the stem *genu-, in the sense of a bending river or estuary. The medieval county of Geneva in Middle Latin was known as pagus major Genevensis or Comitatus Genevensis, the name takes various forms in modern languages, Geneva /dʒᵻˈniːvə/ in English, French, Genève, German, Genf, Italian, Ginevra, and Romansh, Genevra. The city in origin shares its name, *genawa estuary, with the Italian port city of Genoa, Geneva was an Allobrogian border town, fortified against the Helvetii tribe, when the Romans took it in 121 BC. It became Christian under the Late Roman Empire, and acquired its first bishop in the 5th century, having been connected to the bishopric of Vienne in the 4th. In the Middle Ages, Geneva was ruled by a count under the Holy Roman Empire until the late 14th century, around this time the House of Savoy came to dominate the city. In the 15th century, a republican government emerged with the creation of the Grand Council. In 1541, with Protestantism in the ascendancy, John Calvin, by the 18th century, however, Geneva had come under the influence of Catholic France, which cultivated the city as its own. France also tended to be at odds with the ordinary townsfolk, in 1798, revolutionary France under the Directory annexed Geneva. At the end of the Napoleonic Wars, on 1 June 1814, in 1907, the separation of Church and State was adopted. Geneva flourished in the 19th and 20th centuries, becoming the seat of international organizations. Geneva is located at 46°12 North, 6°09 East, at the end of Lake Geneva. It is surrounded by two chains, the Alps and the Jura

8.
Tariff
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A tariff is a tax on imports or exports. In other languages and very occasionally in English, tariff or its equivalent may also be used to any list of prices. A customs duty or due is the tax levied on the import or export of goods in international trade. In economic sense, a duty is also a kind of consumption tax, a duty levied on goods being imported is referred to as an import duty. Similarly, a duty levied on exports is called an export duty, a tariff, which is actually a list of commodities along with the leviable rate of customs duty, is popularly referred to as a customs duty. This is no longer the case, Customs duty is calculated on the determination of the assessable value in case of those items for which the duty is levied ad valorem. This is often the transaction value unless a customs officer determines assessable value in accordance with the Harmonized System, However, for certain items like petroleum and alcohol, customs duty is realized at a specific rate applied to the volume of the import or export consignments. For the purpose of assessment of duty, products are given an identification code that has come to be known as the Harmonized System code. This code was developed by the World Customs Organization based in Brussels, a Harmonized System code may be from four to ten digits. For example,17.03 is the HS code for molasses from the extraction or refining of sugar, However, within 17.03, the number 17.03.90 stands for Molasses. Introduction of Harmonized System code in 1990s has largely replaced the Standard International Trade Classification, in drawing up the national tariff, the revenue departments often specifies the rate of customs duty with reference to the HS code of the product. A Customs authority in each country is responsible for collecting taxes on the import into or export of goods out of the country, Evasion of customs duties takes place mainly in two ways. In one, the trader under-declares the value so that the value is lower than actual. In a similar vein, a trader can evade customs duty by understatement of quantity or volume of the product of trade, a trader may also evade duty by misrepresenting traded goods, categorizing goods as items which attract lower customs duties. The Evasion of customs duty may take place with or without the collaboration of customs officials, Evasion of customs duty does not necessarily constitute smuggling. Many countries allow a traveler to bring goods into the country duty-free and these goods may be bought at ports and airports or sometimes within one country without attracting the usual government taxes and then brought into another country duty-free. Some countries impose allowances which limit the number or value of items that one person can bring into the country. These restrictions often apply to tobacco, wine, spirits, cosmetics, gifts, often foreign diplomats and UN officials are entitled to duty-free goods

9.
Developed country
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Which criteria are to be used and which countries can be classified as being developed are subjects of debate. Developed countries have post-industrial economies, meaning the sector provides more wealth than the industrial sector. They are contrasted with developing countries, which are in the process of industrialization, or undeveloped countries, which are pre-industrial and almost entirely agrarian. As of 2015, advanced economies comprise 60. 8% of global GDP based on values and 42. 9% of global GDP based on purchasing-power parity according to the International Monetary Fund. In 2015, the ten largest advanced economies by GDP in both nominal and PPP terms were Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The term industrialized country may be ambiguous, as industrialization is an ongoing process that is hard to define. The first industrialized country was the United Kingdom, followed by Belgium, later it spread further to Germany, United States, France and other Western European countries. According to some such as Jeffrey Sachs, however, the current divide between the developed and developing world is largely a phenomenon of the 20th century. Economic criteria have tended to dominate discussions, one such criterion is income per capita, countries with high gross domestic product per capita would thus be described as developed countries. Another economic criterion is industrialization, countries in which the tertiary and quaternary sectors of industry dominate would thus be described as developed. More recently another measure, the Human Development Index, which combines an economic measure, national income, with other measures, indices for life expectancy and this criterion would define developed countries as those with a very high rating. According to the United Nations Statistics Division, There is no established convention for the designation of developed, the UN HDI is a statistical measure that gauges a countrys level of human development. While there is a correlation between having a high HDI score and a prosperous economy, the UN points out that the HDI accounts for more than income or productivity. Unlike GDP per capita or per capita income, the HDI takes into account how income is turned into education and health opportunities, since 1990, Norway, Japan, Canada and Iceland have had the highest HDI score. The top 47 countries have scores ranging from 0.793 in Barbados to 0.955 in Norway, many countries listed by IMF or CIA as advanced, possess an HDI over 0.788. Many countries possessing an HDI of 0.788 and over are also listed by IMF or CIA as advanced, thus, many advanced economies are characterized by an HDI score of 0.9 or higher. Since April 2016, the IMF classifies Macau as an advanced economy, the latest index was released on 14 December 2015 and covers the period up to 2014. The following are the 49 countries in the top quartile - having an HDI above 0.8, = Increase = No increase or decrease = Decrease The number in parentheses represents the number of ranks the country has climbed relative to the ranking in 2014 report

10.
Developing country
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Also, the general term less-developed country should not be confused with the specific least developed country. The term developing describes a currently observed situation and not a dynamic or expected direction of progress, since the late 1990s developing countries tended to demonstrate higher growth rates than the developed ones. There is criticism of the use of the developing country. The term implies inferiority of a country or undeveloped country compared with a developed country. It assumes a desire to develop along the traditional Western model of development which a few countries, such as Cuba and Bhutan. An alternative measurement that has suggested is that of gross national happiness. Countries on the boundary between developed and developing are often categorized under the newly industrialized countries. In the 2016 edition of its World Development Indicators, the World Bank made a decision to no longer distinguish between “developed” and “developing” countries in the presentation of its data, nobody has ever agreed on a definition for these terms in the first place. Various terms are used for whatever is not a developed country, terms used include less developed country or less economically developed country, and for the more extreme, least developed country or least economically developed country. But according to the United Nations Statistics Division, There is no established convention for the designation of developed, the World Bank classifies countries into four income groups. These are set each year on July 1, economies were divided according to 2016 GNI per capita using the following ranges of income, Low income countries had GNI per capita of US$1,025 or less. Lower middle income countries had GNI per capita between US$1,026 and US$4,035, upper middle income countries had GNI per capita between US$4,036 and US$12,475. High income countries had GNI per capita above US$12,476 and this may be by absolute numbers or country ranking. The UN has developed the Human Development Index, an indicator of the above statistics. The UN sets Millennium Development Goals from a blueprint developed by all of the countries and leading development institutions. There is an association between low income and high population growth. The terms utilized when discussing developing countries refer to the intent, other terms sometimes used are less developed countries, least economically developed countries, underdeveloped nations or Third World nations, and non-industrialized nations. Conversely, developed countries, most economically developed countries, First World nations and that is, LEDCs are the poorest subset of LDCs

11.
Agricultural subsidy
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Examples of such commodities include, wheat, feed grains, cotton, milk, rice, peanuts, sugar, tobacco, oilseeds such as soybeans, and meat products such as beef, pork, and lamb and mutton. In 2010, the EU spent €57 billion on agricultural development, Agricultural and fisheries subsidies form over 40% of the EU budget. Since 1992, the EUs Common Agricultural Policy has undergone significant change as subsidies have mostly been decoupled from production, the largest subsidy is the Single Farm Payment. The subsidy was implemented by means of a system which could be redeemed by the recipients for fertilizer types at approximately one-third of the normal cash price. Many practical and political challenges remain in the design and implementation required to increase efficiency, control costs. New Zealand is reputed to have the most open agricultural markets in the world after radical reforms started in 1984 by the Fourth Labour Government stopped all subsidies. In 1984 New Zealands Labor government took the step of ending all farm subsidies. This was a truly striking policy action, because New Zealands economy is roughly five times more dependent on farming than is the U. S. economy, measured by either output or employment. Subsidies in New Zealand accounted for more than 30 percent of the value of production before reform, and New Zealand farming was marred by the same problems caused by U. S. subsidies, including overproduction, environmental degradation and inflated land prices. The United States currently pays around $20 billion per year to farmers in direct subsidies as farm income stabilization via farm bills, the beneficiaries of the subsidies have changed as agriculture in the United States has changed. In the 1930s, about 25% of the population resided on the nations 6,000,000 small farms. By 1997,157,000 large farms accounted for 72% of farm sales, in 2006, the top 3 states receiving subsidies were Texas, Iowa, and Illinois. United States Department of Agriculture subsidies from farms in Iowa totaled $1,212,000,000 in 2006, from 2003 to 2005, the top 1% of beneficiaries received 17% of subsidy payments. In Texas, 72% of farms do not receive government subsidies, of the close to USD$1.4 billion in subsidy payments to farms in Texas, roughly 18% of the farms receive a portion of the payments. The Environmental Working Group states, The 1996 Freedom to Farm Act envisioned a move away from subsidized farming, as a transition, the 1996 farm bill established a direct payment program to wean farmers off the government dole. Payments are based on a formula involving the production on a given plot of land in 1986. This set payment went to the current landowner or farm operator every year, the program has been maintained beyond its intended lifetime and became a federal entitlement program for farmers that cost the government about $5 billion per year. Top states for direct payments were Iowa, Illinois, and Texas, direct payments of subsidies are limited to $40,000 per person or $80,000 per couple

12.
Pascal Lamy
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Pascal Lamy is a French political consultant and businessman. He was the Director-General of the World Trade Organization until 1 September 2013 and his appointment took effect on 1 September 2005 for a four-year term. In April 2009, WTO members reappointed Lamy for a second four-year term and he was then succeeded by Roberto Azevêdo. Pascal Lamy was also European Commissioner for Trade and is currently the Honorary President of the Paris-based think tank, Notre Europe. Born in Levallois-Perret, Hauts-de-Seine, a suburb of Paris, Lamy studied at Sciences Po Paris, from HEC and ÉNA, Lamy is also an honorary graduate of the University of Warwick. He then joined the service, and in this role he ended up serving as an adviser to Jacques Delors as Economics and Finance Minister. Lamy has been a member of the French Socialist Party since 1969, when Delors became President of the European Commission in 1984, he took Lamy with him to serve as chef de cabinet, which he did until the end of Delors term in 1994. During his time there, Lamy became known as the Beast of the Berlaymont and he was seen as ruling Delors office with a rod of iron, with no-one able to bypass or manipulate him and those who tried being banished to one of the less pleasant European postings. Lamy briefly moved into business at Crédit Lyonnais, promoted to second in command, he was involved in the restructuring and privatisation of the bank. Returning to the European Commission in 1999, Lamy was appointed European Commissioner for Trade by Commission President Romano Prodi, Lamy served to the expiry of the commissions term in 2004. His ability to manage the powerful civil servants in his department was noted, during his time in office, he pushed for a new Doha round of world trade talks and advocated reform within the WTO. On 13 May 2005, Lamy was chosen as the next director-general of the World Trade Organization and he had been nominated by the European Union and won over candidates including Carlos Pérez del Castillo of Uruguay and Jaya Krishna Cuttaree of Mauritius. On 30 April 2009, Lamy was re-elected unanimously by the WTO General Council for a term of four years. He also served as the chairman of the organizations Trade Negotiations Committee and he was the WTOs fifth director-general. His hobbies include running and cycling, the Geneva Consensus, Making Trade Work for All. The Economic Summit and the European Community

13.
Transparency (behavior)
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Transparency, as used in science, engineering, business, the humanities and in other social contexts, implies openness, communication, and accountability. Transparency is operating in such a way that it is easy for others to see what actions are performed and it has been defined simply as the perceived quality of intentionally shared information from a sender. Transparency is practiced in companies, organizations, administrations, and communities and it guides an organizations decisions and policies on the disclosure of information to its employees and the public, or simply the intended recipient of the information. In Norway and in Sweden, tax authorities release the skatteliste or tax list, official records showing the annual income. Regulations in Hong Kong require banks to list their top earners – without naming them – by pay band, in 2009, the Spanish government for the first time released information on how much each cabinet member is worth, but data on ordinary citizens is private. Recent research suggests there are three aspects of transparency relevant to management practice, information disclosure, clarity, and accuracy. To increase transparency, managers actively infuse greater disclosure, clarity, the strategic management of transparency therefore involves intentional modifications in disclosure, clarity, and accuracy to accomplish the organizations specific objectives. Alternatively, radical transparency is a management method where all decision making is carried out publicly. All draft documents, all arguments for and against a proposal, all decisions. This approach has grown in popularity with the rise of the Internet, two examples of organizations utilizing this style are the GNU/Linux community and Indymedia. Accountability and transparency are of relevance for non-governmental organisations. Yet these same values are found to be lacking in NGOs. Signed in 2006 by 11 NGOs active in the area of humanitarian rights, in 1997, the One World Trust created an NGO Charter, a code of conduct comprising commitment to accountability and transparency. Media transparency is the concept of determining how and why information is conveyed through various means, if the media and the public knows everything that happens in all authorities and county administrations there will be a lot of questions, protests and suggestions coming from media and the public. People who are interested in an issue will try to influence the decisions. Transparency creates an everyday participation in the processes by media. One tool used to increase participation in political processes is freedom of information legislation. Modern democracy builds on such participation of the people and media, there are, for anybody who is interested, many ways to influence the decisions at all levels in society

14.
Government procurement
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Government procurement, or public procurement, is the procurement of goods, services or constructions on behalf of a public authority, such as a government agency. With 10 to 20% of GDP, government procurement accounts for a part of the global economy. To prevent fraud, waste, corruption, or local protectionism and it usually requires the procuring authority to issue public tenders if the value of the procurement exceeds a certain threshold. Government procurement is also the subject of the Agreement on Government Procurement, Government procurement regulations normally cover all public works, services and supply contracts entered into by a public authority. These most notably cover military acquisitions, which account for parts of government expenditures. The GPA and EU procurement law allow of exceptions where public tendering would violate a countrys essential security interests, additionally, certain politically or economically sensitive sectors, such as public health, energy supply or public transport, may also be treated differently. Public procurement in Angola is governed by Law No, 20/10 of 7 September 2010, the Public Procurement Law, and Law No. 2/2011 on Public-Private Partnerships in Angola, the Public Procurement Law repealed Law No. 7/96 of 16 February 1996 and Decree No, Public expenditure, the provision of services, the leasing and acquisition of goods, and public works contracts regulated through the Public Procurement Law. Government procurement in the European Union has been regulated and harmonized by community law since the 1970s and it accounts for more than EUR2 trillion, or 19% of the EU GDP. At the beginning of 2015, the Bulgarian government announced a 130-kilometer extension to the barbed wire fence along its border with Turkey in order to completely secure the land border. Prime Minister Boyko Borisov described the extension as absolutely necessary in order to prevent persons from entering the European Union member state. Government procurement in the Czech Republic is regulated by Act No, Economic operators who are dissatisfied with the conduct of public procurement activity in Denmark may complain to the Klagenævnet for Udbud. Government procurement in Gibraltar is managed by the Procurement Office, an independent office of Her Majesty’s Government of Gibraltar which reports directly to the Financial Secretary, Government procurement in Ireland is governed by the European Communities Regulations 2006 and the European Communities Regulations 2010. Health commissioners in England are exempt from the Lord Young Rules rules when procuring clinical services, in Wales, two organisations - the National Procurement Service, established in 2013, and Value Wales - oversee Welsh public sector procurement. In Northern Ireland the Central Procurement Directorate within the Department of Finance is responsible for procurement policy, a Concordat on Public Procurement was agreed on 1 June 2001 by the UK Government and the Northern Ireland Executive for the handling of EU, international and policy issues on public procurement. The Crown Commercial Service operates a Mystery Shopper scheme, whose remit is to provide a route for suppliers to raise concerns about public procurement practice in England, the Public Procurement Board is the central body for policy formulation on procurement. The existing Public Procurement Act 2003 was amended by the Public Procurement Act 2016, Public procurement in Guyana is overseen by the Public Procurement Commission, appointed under the Public Procurement Commission Act 2003

15.
Foreign direct investment
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A foreign direct investment is an investment in the form of a controlling ownership in a business in one country by an entity based in another country. It is thus distinguished from foreign investment by a notion of direct control. Broadly, foreign direct investment includes mergers and acquisitions, building new facilities, reinvesting profits earned from overseas operations and intra company loans. In a narrow sense, foreign direct investment refers just to building new facility, FDI is the sum of equity capital, other long-term capital, and short-term capital as shown the balance of payments. FDI usually involves participation in management, joint-venture, transfer of technology, stock of FDI is the net cumulative FDI for any given period. Direct investment excludes investment through purchase of shares, FDI is one example of international factor movements. A foreign direct investment is an ownership in a business enterprise in one country by an entity based in another country. Foreign direct investment is distinguished from foreign investment, a passive investment in the securities of another country such as public stocks and bonds. Moreover, control of technology, management, even crucial inputs can confer de facto control, for example, Joe S. Bain only explained the internationalization challenge through three main principles, absolute cost advantages, product differentiation advantages and economies of scale. Furthermore, the theories were created under the assumption of the existence of perfect competition. Facing the challenges of his predecessors, Hymer focused his theory on filling the gaps regarding international investment, the theory proposed by the author approaches international investment from a different and more firm-specific point of view. Furthermore, Hymer proceeds to criticize the neoclassical theories, stating that the theory of capital movements cannot explain international production. Moreover, he clarifies that FDI is not necessarily a movement of funds from a country to a host country. In contrast, if interest rates were the motive for international investment. Another observation made by Hymer went against what was maintained by the neoclassical theories, in fact, foreign direct investment can be financed through loans obtained in the host country, payments in exchange for equity, and other methods. Further studies attempted to explain how firms could monetize these advantages in the form of licenses, removal of conflicts, conflict arises if a firm is already operating in foreign market or looking to expand its operations within the same market. He proposes that the solution for this hurdle arose in the form of collusion, however, it must be taken into account that a reduction in conflict through acquisition of control of operations will increase the market imperfections. The extent to which a company can mitigate risk depends on how well a firm can formulate an internationalization strategy taking these levels of decision into account

16.
Competition law
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Competition law is a law that promotes or seeks to maintain market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies. Competition law is implemented through public and private enforcement, Competition law is known as anti-trust law in the United States, and as anti-monopoly law in China and Russia. In previous years it has known as trade practices law in the United Kingdom. In the European Union, it is referred to as both antitrust and competition law, the history of competition law reaches back to the Roman Empire. The business practices of market traders, guilds and governments have always been subject to scrutiny, since the 20th century, competition law has become global. The two largest and most influential systems of regulation are United States antitrust law and European Union competition law. National and regional competition authorities across the world have formed international support, modern competition law has historically evolved on a country level to promote and maintain fair competition in markets principally within the territorial boundaries of nation-states. National competition law usually does not cover activity beyond territorial borders unless it has significant effects at nation-state level, countries may allow for extraterritorial jurisdiction in competition cases based on so-called effects doctrine. The protection of competition is governed by international competition agreements. These obligations were not included in GATT, but in 1994, with the conclusion of the Uruguay Round of GATT Multilateral Negotiations, the Agreement Establishing the WTO included a range of limited provisions on various cross-border competition issues on a sector specific basis. Competition law, or antitrust law, has three elements, prohibiting agreements or practices that restrict free trading and competition between business. This includes in particular the repression of trade caused by cartels. Banning abusive behavior by a firm dominating a market, or anti-competitive practices that tend to lead to such a dominant position, Practices controlled in this way may include predatory pricing, tying, price gouging, refusal to deal, and many others. Supervising the mergers and acquisitions of large corporations, including joint ventures. Substance and practice of competition law varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, protecting the interests of consumers and ensuring that entrepreneurs have an opportunity to compete in the market economy are often treated as important objectives. In recent decades, competition law has been viewed as a way to better public services. An early example of competition law can be found in Roman law, the Lex Julia de Annona was enacted during the Roman Republic around 50 B. C. To protect the trade, heavy fines were imposed on anyone directly, deliberately

17.
Seattle
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Seattle is a seaport city on the west coast of the United States and the seat of King County, Washington. With an estimated 684,451 residents as of 2015, Seattle is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region of North America. In July 2013, it was the major city in the United States. The city is situated on an isthmus between Puget Sound and Lake Washington, about 100 miles south of the Canada–United States border, a major gateway for trade with Asia, Seattle is the fourth-largest port in North America in terms of container handling as of 2015. The Seattle area was inhabited by Native Americans for at least 4,000 years before the first permanent European settlers. Arthur A. Denny and his group of travelers, subsequently known as the Denny Party, arrived from Illinois via Portland, the settlement was moved to the eastern shore of Elliott Bay and named Seattle in 1852, after Chief Siahl of the local Duwamish and Suquamish tribes. Logging was Seattles first major industry, but by the late-19th century, growth after World War II was partially due to the local Boeing company, which established Seattle as a center for aircraft manufacturing. The Seattle area developed as a technology center beginning in the 1980s, in 1994, Internet retailer Amazon was founded in Seattle. The stream of new software, biotechnology, and Internet companies led to an economic revival, Seattle has a noteworthy musical history. From 1918 to 1951, nearly two dozen jazz nightclubs existed along Jackson Street, from the current Chinatown/International District, to the Central District, the jazz scene developed the early careers of Ray Charles, Quincy Jones, Ernestine Anderson, and others. Seattle is also the birthplace of rock musician Jimi Hendrix and the alternative rock subgenre grunge, archaeological excavations suggest that Native Americans have inhabited the Seattle area for at least 4,000 years. By the time the first European settlers arrived, the people occupied at least seventeen villages in the areas around Elliott Bay, the first European to visit the Seattle area was George Vancouver, in May 1792 during his 1791–95 expedition to chart the Pacific Northwest. In 1851, a party led by Luther Collins made a location on land at the mouth of the Duwamish River. Thirteen days later, members of the Collins Party on the way to their claim passed three scouts of the Denny Party, members of the Denny Party claimed land on Alki Point on September 28,1851. The rest of the Denny Party set sail from Portland, Oregon, after a difficult winter, most of the Denny Party relocated across Elliott Bay and claimed land a second time at the site of present-day Pioneer Square, naming this new settlement Duwamps. For the next few years, New York Alki and Duwamps competed for dominance, david Swinson Doc Maynard, one of the founders of Duwamps, was the primary advocate to name the settlement after Chief Sealth of the Duwamish and Suquamish tribes. The name Seattle appears on official Washington Territory papers dated May 23,1853, in 1855, nominal land settlements were established. On January 14,1865, the Legislature of Territorial Washington incorporated the Town of Seattle with a board of managing the city

18.
1999 Seattle WTO protests
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The Conference was to be the launch of a new millennial round of trade negotiations. The protests were nicknamed N30, on lines to J18. Planning for the demonstrations began months in advance and included local, national, among the most notable participants were national and international nongovernmental organizations such as Global Exchange, labor unions, student groups, religion-based groups, and anarchists. The coalition was loose, with some opponent groups focused on opposition to WTO policies, with others motivated by prolabor, anticapitalist, many of the NGOs represented at the protests came with credentials to participate in the official meetings, while also planning various educational and press events. The AFL-CIO, with cooperation from its unions, organized a large permitted rally. However, others were interested in taking direct action, including both civil disobedience and acts of vandalism and property destruction to disrupt the meeting. The black bloc was not affiliated with DAN, but was responding to the call for autonomous resistance actions on November 30 issued by Peoples Global Action. Of the different coalitions that aligned in protest were the teamsters and turtles - a blue-green alliance consisting of the teamsters, in a subsequent communique, they listed the particular corporations targeted, which they considered to have committed corporate crime. Needed to counter the effects of globalisation on the poorest nations. The report itself argued, An essential aspect of governance is responsibility to people—to equity, to justice. On July 16, Helene Cooper of the Wall Street Journal warned of a massive mobilization against globalization being planned for the end-of-year Seattle WTO conference. In a series of rulings it has struck down measures to help the poor, protect the environment. It seems to have a drive to extend its power. The spoof front-page stories were Boeing to move overseas and Clinton pledges help for poorest nations, the byline on the Boeing story attributed it to Joe Hill. This ominously foreshadowed the conflict of the North-South divide which was to result in the collapse of the forthcoming WTO talks. In 1997, the APEC Canada meeting was held at the University of British Columbia campus on November 24 and 25 in Vancouver, UBC may have welcomed the filming of Battle in Seattle on its grounds in the light of this past. On the morning of Tuesday November 30,1999, the DANs plan was put into effect, several hundred activists arrived in the deserted streets near the convention center and began to take control of key intersections. Over the next few hours, a number of marchers began to converge on the area from different directions, some demonstrators held rallies, others held teach-ins and at least one group staged an early-morning street party

19.
September 11 attacks
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The September 11 attacks were a series of four coordinated terrorist attacks by the Islamic terrorist group al-Qaeda on the United States on the morning of Tuesday, September 11,2001. The attacks killed 2,996 people, injured over 6,000 others, two of the planes, American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175, were crashed into the North and South towers, respectively, of the World Trade Center complex in New York City. A third plane, American Airlines Flight 77, was crashed into the Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia and it was the deadliest incident for firefighters and law enforcement officers in the history of the United States, with 343 and 72 killed respectively. Suspicion for the attack fell on al-Qaeda. The United States responded to the attacks by launching the War on Terror and invading Afghanistan to depose the Taliban, many countries strengthened their anti-terrorism legislation and expanded the powers of law enforcement and intelligence agencies to prevent terrorist attacks. Although al-Qaedas leader, Osama bin Laden, initially denied any involvement, al-Qaeda and bin Laden cited U. S. support of Israel, the presence of U. S. troops in Saudi Arabia, and sanctions against Iraq as motives. Having evaded capture for almost a decade, bin Laden was located and killed by SEAL Team Six of the U. S. Navy in May 2011. S. many closings, evacuations, and cancellations followed, out of respect or fear of further attacks. Cleanup of the World Trade Center site was completed in May 2002, on November 18,2006, construction of One World Trade Center began at the World Trade Center site. The building was opened on November 3,2014. The origins of al-Qaeda can be traced to 1979 when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, Osama bin Laden traveled to Afghanistan and helped organize Arab mujahideen to resist the Soviets. Under the guidance of Ayman al-Zawahiri, bin Laden became more radical, in 1996, bin Laden issued his first fatwā, calling for American soldiers to leave Saudi Arabia. Bin Laden used Islamic texts to exhort Muslims to attack Americans until the stated grievances are reversed, Muslim legal scholars have throughout Islamic history unanimously agreed that the jihad is an individual duty if the enemy destroys the Muslim countries, according to bin Laden. Bin Laden, who orchestrated the attacks, initially denied but later admitted involvement, in November 2001, U. S. forces recovered a videotape from a destroyed house in Jalalabad, Afghanistan. In the video, bin Laden is seen talking to Khaled al-Harbi, on December 27,2001, a second bin Laden video was released. In the video, he said, It has become clear that the West in general and it is the hatred of crusaders. Terrorism against America deserves to be praised because it was a response to injustice, aimed at forcing America to stop its support for Israel, the transcript refers several times to the United States specifically targeting Muslims. He said that the attacks were carried out because, we are free, and want to regain freedom for our nation. As you undermine our security we undermine yours, Bin Laden said he had personally directed his followers to attack the World Trade Center and the Pentagon

20.
Manufacturing
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Manufacturing is the value added to production of merchandise for use or sale using labour and machines, tools, chemical and biological processing, or formulation. Manufacturing engineering or manufacturing process are the steps through which raw materials are transformed into a final product, the manufacturing process begins with the product design, and materials specification from which the product is made. These materials are modified through manufacturing processes to become the required part. Manufacturing takes turns under all types of economic systems, in a free market economy, manufacturing is usually directed toward the mass production of products for sale to consumers at a profit. In a collectivist economy, manufacturing is more directed by the state to supply a centrally planned economy. In mixed market economies, manufacturing occurs under some degree of government regulation, modern manufacturing includes all intermediate processes required the production and integration of a products components. Some industries, such as semiconductor and steel manufacturers use the term fabrication instead, the manufacturing sector is closely connected with engineering and industrial design. Examples of major manufacturers in North America include General Motors Corporation, General Electric, Procter & Gamble, General Dynamics, Boeing, Pfizer, examples in Europe include Volkswagen Group, Siemens, and Michelin. Examples in Asia include Sony, Huawei, Lenovo, Toyota, Samsung, in its earliest form, manufacturing was usually carried out by a single skilled artisan with assistants. In much of the world, the guild system protected the privileges. Before the Industrial Revolution, most manufacturing occurred in rural areas, entrepreneurs organized a number of manufacturing households into a single enterprise through the putting-out system. Toll manufacturing is an arrangement whereby a first firm with specialized equipment processes raw materials or semi-finished goods for a second firm, manufacturing provides important material support for national infrastructure and for national defense. On the other hand, most manufacturing may involve significant social and environmental costs, the clean-up costs of hazardous waste, for example, may outweigh the benefits of a product that creates it. Hazardous materials may expose workers to health risks and these costs are now well known and there is effort to address them by improving efficiency, reducing waste, using industrial symbiosis, and eliminating harmful chemicals. The negative costs of manufacturing can also be addressed legally, developed countries regulate manufacturing activity with labor laws and environmental laws. Across the globe, manufacturers can be subject to regulations and pollution taxes to offset the costs of manufacturing activities. Labor unions and craft guilds have played a role in the negotiation of worker rights. Environment laws and labor protections that are available in developed nations may not be available in the third world, tort law and product liability impose additional costs on manufacturing

21.
TRIPS Agreement
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The Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights is an international legal agreement between all the member nations of the World Trade Organization. It sets down minimum standards for the regulation by governments of many forms of intellectual property as applied to nationals of other WTO member nations. TRIPS was negotiated at the end of the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs, in 2001, developing countries, concerned that developed countries were insisting on an overly narrow reading of TRIPS, initiated a round of talks that resulted in the Doha Declaration. The Doha declaration is a WTO statement that clarifies the scope of TRIPS, stating for example that TRIPS can, TRIPS also specifies enforcement procedures, remedies, and dispute resolution procedures. TRIPS was negotiated at the end of the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and its inclusion was the culmination of a program of intense lobbying by the United States, supported by the European Union, Japan and other developed nations. After the Uruguay round, the GATT became the basis for the establishment of the World Trade Organization, for this reason, TRIPS is the most important multilateral instrument for the globalization of intellectual property laws. States like Russia and China that were unlikely to join the Berne Convention have found the prospect of WTO membership a powerful enticement. Furthermore, unlike other agreements on intellectual property, TRIPS has an enforcement mechanism. States can be disciplined through the WTOs dispute settlement mechanism, TRIPS requires member states to provide strong protection for intellectual property rights. For example, under TRIPS, Copyright terms must extend at least 50 years, Copyright must be granted automatically, and not based upon any formality, such as registrations, as specified in the Berne Convention. Computer programs must be regarded as literary works under copyright law, exceptions to exclusive rights must be limited, provided that a normal exploitation of the work and normal exploitation of the patent is not in conflict. No unreasonable prejudice to the interests of the right holders of computer programs. Legitimate interests of third parties have to be taken account by patent rights. In each state, intellectual property laws may not offer any benefits to citizens which are not available to citizens of other TRIPS signatories under the principle of national treatment. TRIPS also has a most favored nation clause and it is the case of the protection of software and database. Article 10 of the treaty stipulates,1, computer programs, whether in source or object code, shall be protected as literary works under the Berne Convention. Such protection, which shall not extend to the data or material itself, the most visible conflict has been over AIDS drugs in Africa. Despite the role that patents have played in maintaining higher drug costs for health programs across Africa

22.
G20 developing nations
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The G20 developing nations was a bloc of developing nations established on 20 August 2003. Distinct and separate from the G20 major economies, the group emerged at the 5th Ministerial WTO conference, held in Cancún, Mexico, the group accounted for 60% of the worlds population, 70% of its farmers and 26% of world’s agricultural exports. Its origins date back to June 2003, when foreign ministers from Brazil, India and this document marked the establishment of the group. The original group of signatories of the 20 August 2003 document went through many changes, the title G-20 was finally chosen, in honor of the date of the groups establishment. Since its creation, the group had a fluctuating membership, previous members have included, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Peru, and Turkey. In October 2008, the group had 23 members, G20 press release on 19th of March,2005. G20, the developing country coalition in Focus on Trade 98, the G -20, Aims and Perspectives of a New Trade Alliance at dissertation. com

23.
Luis Ernesto Derbez
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Luis Ernesto Derbez Bautista is a Mexican politician and current rector of the Universidad de Las Américas. Upon assuming power in December 2000, President Vicente Fox chose him to serve as his Secretary of Economy. In January 2003, following the resignation of Jorge Castañeda, Derbez took over as Secretary of Foreign Affairs and he was one of the contenders seeking the vacant position of Secretary General of the Organization of American States. He withdrew and Chiles Interior Minister José Miguel Insulza won the position, between January 2003 and December 2006, he was the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Mexico, and between December 2000 and December 2002, he was the Minister of Economy. From July to November 2000, he chaired President-elect Vicente Fox transition team and he also did consulting work for some of Mexicos leading private sector companies such as Alfa, Vitro, Visa, and FEMSA. As head of the Ministries of Economy and Foreign Affairs, Derbez has vigorously increased the presence in world business. As Minister of Economy, Derbez was in charge of Mexicos international trade negotiations, at the 2001 WTOs Ministerial Meetings in Qatar he was a member of the Directors Team which successfully negotiated the start of the Doha Development Round. Following his participation, Derbez became the Chairman-elect for WTOs 2003 Ministerial Meeting, as such, during 2002 and 2003 he co-chaired preparatory Ministerial Meetings in Mexico, Sydney, Geneva, Sharm-el-Sheik, and Paris. During that period, Derbez also played a key role in the outcome of the U. N. International Conference on Financing for Development held in Monterrey, Mexico, Derbez also chaired the 2002 APEC Meeting in Los Cabos, Baja California. In domestic issues, as Minister of Economy, Derbez proposed ten industrial policy programs for key sectors of the Mexican economy. He also created the Undersecretariat for Medium and Small Enterprises, and launched the successful Microcredit program PRONAFIM, as Minister of Foreign Affairs, Derbez has strengthened Mexico’s bilateral and multilateral relations with the USA and Canada. Today, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is a key player in the negotiations to improve NAFTA and its work has led to a program entitled Security and Prosperity Agreement, launched in 2003 in Waco, Texas, by the three leaders of the North American countries. One of the results of ASPAN was the constitution of a private-public Competitiveness Council which is defining sector specific policies to standardize the regions economic environment. Reversing a 15-year trend, Derbez has refocused Mexicos policy towards Latin America, under Derbezs leadership, Mexico gained associated status in the Andean Countries Group and MERCOSUR, while at the same time signed a strategic, political, and economic alliance with Chile. On the other hand, he gave priority to the Asia Pacific region. In addition to the FTA with Japan, Mexico created a Ministerial Level Commission with China, under his leadership, Mexico initiated negotiations agreements with Indias government in the technology and pharmaceutical sectors. While representing Mexico at the UN Security Council during the Iraq crisis, in 2004, Mexico invited 15 nations to form a group called Friends of the Reform, to propose administrative and organizational changes for the UN

24.
Common Agricultural Policy
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The Common Agricultural Policy is the agricultural policy of the European Union. It implements a system of subsidies and other programmes. It was introduced in 1962 and has several changes since then to reduce the cost. It has been criticised on the grounds of its cost, and its environmental, the circumstance that led to the development of the CAP occurred in the late 1950s to late 1960s. At the time, there was no example of a successful agricultural integration in Europe, however, two main factors contributed to its creation of this policy. ”Thus, leading to the creation of article 39 in a set of five social and economic objectives.9. As part of building a market, tariffs on agricultural products would have to be removed. However, the clout of farmers and the sensitivity of the issue made it take many years before the CAP was fully implemented. The Treaty of Rome, signed in 1957, established the Common Market and it also defined the general objectives of a CAP. The principles of the CAP were set out at the Stresa Conference in July 1958, the creation of a common agricultural policy was proposed in 1960 by the European Commission, and the CAP mechanisms were adopted by the six founding Member States. In 1962, the CAP came into force, the six member states individually strongly intervened in their agricultural sectors, in particular with regard to what was produced, maintaining prices for goods and how farming was organised. The intervention posed an obstacle to trade in goods while the rules continued to differ from state to state since freedom of trade would interfere with the intervention policies. Some members, particularly France, and all farming professional organisations wanted to maintain strong state intervention in agriculture and that could not only be achieved unless policies were harmonised and transferred to the European Community level. By 1962, three major principles had been established to guide the CAP, market unity, community preference, since then, the CAP has been a central element in the European institutional system. Germany is still the largest net contributor into the EU budget, however, as of 2005, France is also a net contributor while the more agriculture-focused Spain, Greece, and Portugal are the biggest beneficiaries. Transitional rules apply to the newly admitted states, which limit the subsidies that they currently receive. The CAP has always been an area of EU policy to reform, it is a problem that began in the 1960s and one that has continued to the present. Changes to the CAP are proposed by the European Commission, after a public consultation, both the Council and the European Parliament have to agree to any changes. The Parliament was involved in the process of change for the first time in 2013, the involvement of the Parliament, which represents the citizens, increases the democratic legitimacy of the CAP

25.
Trade bloc
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Surges of trade bloc formation were seen in the 1960s and 1970s, as well as in the 1990s after the collapse of Communism. By 1997, more than 50% of all commerce was conducted within regional trade blocs. Economist Jeffrey J. Advocates of worldwide free trade are generally opposed to trading blocs, scholars and economists continue to debate whether regional trade blocs are leading to a more fragmented world economy or encouraging the extension of the existing global multilateral trading system. Trade blocs can be stand-alone agreements between states or part of a regional organization. There are five major advantages of trade agreements, foreign direct investment, economies of scale, competition, trade effects. Foreign Direct Investment, An increase in direct investment results from trade blocs. Larger markets are created, resulting in costs to manufacture products locally. Economies of Scale, The larger markets created via trading blocs permit economies of scale, the average cost of production is decreased because mass production is allowed. Competition, Trade blocs bring manufacturers in countries closer together. Accordingly, the increased competition promotes greater efficiency within firms, Trade Effects Trade blocs eliminate tariffs, thus driving the cost of imports down. As a result, demand changes and consumers make purchases based on the lowest prices, market Efficiency, The increased consumption experienced with changes in demand combines with a greater amount of products being manufactured to result in an efficient market. The disadvantages, on the hand, include, regionalism vs. multinationalism, loss of sovereignty, concessions. Regionalism vs. Multinationalism, Trading blocs bear an inherent bias in favor of their participating countries, for example, NAFTA, a free trade agreement between the United States, Canada and Mexico, has contributed to an increased flow of trade among these three countries. Trade among NAFTA partners has risen to more than 80 percent of Mexican and Canadian trade and more than a third of U. S. trade, according to a 2009 report by the Council on Foreign Relations. However, regional economies establish tariffs and quotas that protect intra-regional trade from outside forces, loss of Sovereignty, A trading bloc, particularly when it is coupled with a political union, is likely to lead to at least partial loss of sovereignty for its participants. Concessions, No country wants to let foreign firms gain domestic market share at the expense of local companies without getting something in return, any country that wants to join a trading bloc must be prepared to make concessions. Interdependence, Because trading blocs increase trade among participating countries, the countries become increasingly dependent on each other, regional integration Continental organization Continental union

26.
BASIC countries
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The BASIC countries are a bloc of four large newly industrialized countries – Brazil, South Africa, India and China – formed by an agreement on 28 November 2009. The four committed to act jointly at the Copenhagen climate summit and this emerging geopolitical alliance, initiated and led by China, then brokered the final Copenhagen Accord with the United States. Subsequently, the grouping is working to define a position on emission reductions and climate aid money. However, in January 2010, the described the Accord as merely a political agreement and not legally binding, as is argued by the US. The four countries also said they will announce their plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 31 January 2010 as agreed in Copenhagen. Furthermore, the grouping discussed the possibility of providing financial and technical aid to the nations of the G77. This move was intended to share richer nations into increasing their funding for climate mitigation in poorer nations. Technical cooperation among the countries appears to be following, as in May 2010 South Africa, Brazil and India announced a joint programme to develop satellites

27.
Robert Zoellick
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Robert Bruce Zoellick is an American banker who was the eleventh president of the World Bank, a position he held from July 1,2007 to June 30,2012. He was previously a director of Goldman Sachs, United States Deputy Secretary of State and U. S. Trade Representative. Zoellick has been a fellow at his alma mater Harvard Kennedy School since retirement from the World Bank in July 1,2012. Robert Bruce Zoellick was born in Naperville, Illinois, the son of Gladys and his family is of German origin and he was raised Lutheran. Upon graduation from Harvard Law School Zoellick served as a law clerk for Judge Patricia Wald on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Zoellick served in various positions at the Department of the Treasury from 1985 to 1988. He held positions including Counselor to Secretary James Baker, Executive Secretary of the Department, and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions Policy. During George H. W. Bushs presidency, Zoellick served with Baker, by then Secretary of State, as Under Secretary of State for Economic and Agricultural Affairs, in August 1992, Zoellick was appointed White House Deputy Chief of Staff and Assistant to the President. Zoellick was also appointed Bushs personal representative for the G7 Economic Summits in 1991 and 1992, after leaving government service, Zoellick served from 1993 to 1997 as an Executive Vice President of Fannie Mae. Zoellick signed the January 26,1998 letter to President Bill Clinton from Project for a New American Century that advocated war against Iraq, during 1999 Zoellick was, for a short period, the head of the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Also during 1999, Zoellick served on a panel that offered Enron executives briefings on economic and political issues. In the 2000 presidential election campaign, Zoellick served as a policy advisor to George W. Bush as part of a group, led by Condoleezza Rice. James Baker designated him as his second-in-command—a sort of chief operating officer or chief of staff—in the 36-day battle over recounting the vote in Florida. Zoellick was named U. S. Trade Representative in Bushs first term, he was a member of the Executive Office and he also heavily promoted the Central American Free Trade Agreement over the objections of labor, environmental, and human rights groups. Zoellick played a key role in the U. S. -WTO dispute against the European Union over genetically modified foods. U, on January 7,2005, Bush nominated Zoellick to be Deputy Secretary of State. Zoellick assumed the office on February 22,2005, the New York Times reported on May 25,2006 that Zoellick could soon announce his departure. Zoellick agreed to serve as Deputy Secretary of State for not less than one year and he was seen as a major architect of the Bush administration’s policies regarding China. On September 21,2005, Zoellick created a stir on both sides of the Pacific by giving a remarkably candid speech to the National Committee on U. S. -China Relations. In the speech, he not only introduced the notion of China as a stakeholder in the international community

28.
United States Congress
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The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States consisting of two chambers, the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the Capitol in Washington, D. C, both senators and representatives are chosen through direct election, though vacancies in the Senate may be filled by a gubernatorial appointment. Members are usually affiliated to the Republican Party or to the Democratic Party, Congress has 535 voting members,435 Representatives and 100 Senators. The House of Representatives has six non-voting members in addition to its 435 voting members and these members can, however, sit on congressional committees and introduce legislation. Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, the members of the House of Representatives serve two-year terms representing the people of a single constituency, known as a district. Congressional districts are apportioned to states by using the United States Census results. Each state, regardless of population or size, has two senators, currently, there are 100 senators representing the 50 states. Each senator is elected at-large in their state for a term, with terms staggered. The House and Senate are equal partners in the legislative process—legislation cannot be enacted without the consent of both chambers, however, the Constitution grants each chamber some unique powers. The Senate ratifies treaties and approves presidential appointments while the House initiates revenue-raising bills, the House initiates impeachment cases, while the Senate decides impeachment cases. A two-thirds vote of the Senate is required before a person can be forcibly removed from office. The term Congress can also refer to a meeting of the legislature. A Congress covers two years, the current one, the 115th Congress, began on January 3,2017, the Congress starts and ends on the third day of January of every odd-numbered year. Members of the Senate are referred to as senators, members of the House of Representatives are referred to as representatives, congressmen, or congresswomen. One analyst argues that it is not a solely reactive institution but has played a role in shaping government policy and is extraordinarily sensitive to public pressure. Several academics described Congress, Congress reflects us in all our strengths, Congress is the governments most representative body. Congress is essentially charged with reconciling our many points of view on the public policy issues of the day. —Smith, Roberts, and Wielen Congress is constantly changing and is constantly in flux, most incumbents seek re-election, and their historical likelihood of winning subsequent elections exceeds 90 percent

The Sixth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization, also known as the WTO Hong Kong Ministerial …

WTO 6th Ministerial Conference Co-ordination Office Head Janet Wong unveils the logo for the upcoming meeting. It incorporates the WTO's familiar six strokes, surrounding them with golden rays to form an image that looks like the number '6'